Will Grandbois

In one of the most eagerly awaited dates in recent history, the new Carbondale Branch Library opens at 10 a.m. on July 20.
The new library covers 13,000 square feet compared to the old library’s 3,600 square feet. The $5.2 million library was funded by a property tax that was levied after residents voted to form the Garfield County Public Library District in 2006. The district also retains a 1/4-cent sales tax for part of its operating budget, according to GCPLD Director Amelia Shelley. Other libraries have been built, expanded or are planned for the five other towns in the district.

Despite its unassuming name, the Pardon My Garden club is 80 members strong, all living and gardening throughout the Roaring Fork Valley. This summer, for the first time in its 20-year history, the non-profit organization is planning a tour featuring 11 gardens stretching from Watson Divide to El Jebel.
The first annual Garden Tour, billed as “Ornamental and Edible Gardens of the Mid-Valley,” will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 27. In the past, the club has held plant sales and donated the proceeds to individuals or local organizations, typically giving grants totaling between $5,000 and $7,000 a year. The ticket sales from this summer’s tour will be used for the same purpose.

Carbondale trustees are still a few hits away from putting a fine point on the town’s pot regulations, but they are starting to take shape.
At Tuesday night’s work session, trustees indicated they’ll allow retail outlets to cook and sell products such as marijuana-laced brownies, but to do so will probably require a special use permit. The town might establish zone-district “overlays” to determine where retail marijuana stores can and can’t operate. The trustees decided to measure minimum-allowed distances from pot shops to schools as the public would travel them, rather than as the crow flies. The trustees also instructed staff to draft a memo to address the issue of whether to ask voters to put a 5 percent additional sales tax on legally-sold marijuana.

What did you do last weekend? That’s a common question in these parts, which is often answered with a list of outdoor activities, no matter what the season.
There are now more backcountry recreation options than ever: camping, climbing, cycling, fishing, hiking, horse packing, hunting, skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, trail riding and wildlife viewing to name a few.
With so many locals and visitors enjoying public lands in so many ways, it’s important that everyone do their part to minimize the impact they make on habitat and wildlife.

Mountain Fair notes • Off to the CrossFit games • Wyly news • GCSO members excel

Whenever my life feels out of balance my first instinct is to get on the river. Over the past 19 years I have floated over 15,000 miles of rivers — kayaking, raft-guiding and doing swiftwater rescue/CPR training. The river feels like home to me. However, I have seen and experienced some life-threatening moments in those years.
Recently, I watched a woman lose consciousness after two other boats with small children got surfed and almost flipped in the ledge-hole (on-river left) at the kayak park in Glenwood Springs. Incredibly, the woman was resuscitated by five kayakers that got her to shore. They began CPR and revived her before the paramedics arrived.

Town selling surplus equipment and vehicles • Garfield County adopts new land use code

What’ll it be for the center of the new roundabout at Highway 133 and Main Street?
A specially commissioned piece from Missouri Heights sculptor James Surls?
How about a rotating work of art as part of the town’s on-going Art aRound Town series?
Then there’s always the minimalist approach — nothing but concrete.

Carbondale’s art scene continues to expand with the opening of its newest gallery, Art 215. Located at 215 12th Street, this large, airy space contains artwork of every style, size and price, with much of it being sold on consignment.
George Scott and his wife, artist Suki Scott, told The Sopris Sun they are enthusiastic about their new venture, which features many oil paintings done by Suki as well as traditional and contemporary works from a variety of other artists.
The gallery’s first room (on the ground level) is comprised primarily of consignment art, George said, with European prints, works by Louis Icart and “early Suki work.”